Car buffer mechanism



Dec. 22, 1931. J. 1 ORT'NER CAR BUFFER MECHANISM 2 sheets-snaai 1 Filed April 23, 1930 nllll mmm.

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J. L.. ORTNER CAR BUFFER MECHANISM Filed April 23, 1930 T. Dn uw W ,n w

Dec. 22, 1931.

VIII/1111111111' Patented Dec. 212, 1931 Joer-ira nonnina?, esaminano, rimarcare 'ff censors-ER iancirarirsir Appiiaaon siedV Aprii as, 1936. siai-f immessa.

rlhis invention refers to railway car bulfers andplat-forms, moreparticularlyof the special class consisting ofvestibuled or enclosed A, platforms for passenger cars, the abutting `vertical edges of the frames of which vestibules ,are equipped with al bellows-like arrangement to insure a yieldingcontact.V The leading object of my invention is to diminish noise suchlas clanlring and rattling in the opit eration 'of the. louder mechanism, besides making the joints `closer, at 4all times between the' parts of the 'platform and other appliances which enter into the combination.v

. ind the invention also comprises numerf i5 ous'details and peculiarities in theconstruction, combination, and arrangement of partys, in order to'bring about the results in view, substantially as, will be hereinafterdescribed and more particularly pointed out..A in the 2U yensuing.clauses of claim.AV

Vln the annexed drawings illustrating myv invention:

Figure` lVis a top plan view ofmy im-V proved noiseless railway car buffer, the same i being shown as practically applied at the furnished surface which adapts it to `easily meet asimilar surface on another frame. Y y 40 Figure 4 is a sectional detail view of one of theball bearingdevices in thevestibule Y frames.

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional elevation on the line 5, 5,;ofFigure 2. 1

Figure 6 is a sectional detail VofV thev ball bearing at the end of the buer center stems below the car platforms. c e ,f `Figure 7 is a sectional detail viewof the vball bearing device on V the endwisemovable bars. l

the` drawings.

tightly beneath the platform plates l, 1,'anV successfully bridge the gap between the plates f Like characterswofr reference. denote llike Y parts througlioutall tliedifferent figures of -4 l, l, denotes two narrow transverse; `llorizontal plates at-the 'front ends of t'wo1cars,55 as I have indicated. Theseplates l have a rounding front edge as isusualand they are carried; on certain platforms 4propeignas 34, .which are only `shown ingeneral ,outline as Ybeing mounted orrelatedrfon or to, suitable end sills 25, longitudinalsills 27, castings l 53 and other parts, of `thepcar.v construction, which are not fully shown or described here, .Y but are represented onlyin suflicient detail v toY enable me to faithfully describe therelative location and connection of the buffer parts that constitute tliejessence ofthe invention., an lessential feature of which Ais the resilient mounting of certain plates 2cwhichlie under the platform plates 1 aplateQ being 70 v, under each plate l, andthe edges; of theplates 2 being normally in contactwith each; other asshown in Figure 2 when the "cars are cou- Y pled' together, -V but i l whichA Vplates separate moreor less at theiredges andadjust themselves vertically and otherwise during the running of the cars aiidfespecially in 'round-v ing curves and on irregular roadbeds.V f

The present improvements refercmore esi pecially to the means for yieldin-gly and ad- 30 justably supporting` these metal plates v)2in a Vhorizontal position sogthat they mayhuo' 1,' above the couplingdevices, at the's'ame 35 time keeping the meetingedgesofthe plates 2 in close contact with each other while the Acars arerunning and thus prevent any substantial separation at any time' of said'edges l `when the cars areintercoupled, which separa- Y l tion` might sometimes be caused by oscillation of theiparts andiineven strain vonthe lier 3, the latter member 3 `beingsecuredin a suitable manner to the underside Vof the corresponding plate 2'; and #heretical Side 1- ,100

beingvsecured toa parallel plate or'bar mem- Y ber 8, which belongs to the lower end of the vestibule frame, it being noted that the outer edge of plate 2 rests upon or is firmly connected to the top edge of said plate 8,y as seen in Figures 2 and 3. Thus each car platform has the same carrying means for its movable plate 2,' saidmeans -consisting ofthe angle beam 4, 3, and the vestibule frame plate 8,-

which are united together and'to the plate 2V into a single unit after the manner described Y for in some equivalent way. And thus there are two suchV units in a closely contiguous relation when two cars are` coupled together,

causing an arrangement such that the lower sections-8 ofthe two vestibule framesare' 1n vclose contact with each other at the same time thatthe r-emaining upright frontfaces of said lframes are closely associated as seen in F igure Q i l, .i v v i v 1 These vertical vestibuleframes are only Y partiallyfshownV so farvas may be necessary,

but they-appear-in elevationin Figure 3 and jinedgeview in Figure 2; So :far as my present invention 1s concerned 1t Yls-enough to 1l- 'lustrate the par-ts I `have shown,'and.to say Vthat thetwo frames, one on each platform,

Varerectangular and closely adjacent to each other when the cars are coupled together. Each frame {has the-vertical Hat side 'strips 7, 7 ,connected at the top by theintegral cross stripe-7a, and at the bottom ends by the horizontal cross stripY or plate 8. f These latter plates4 8 areriveted orsecured to the angle beams 4-by rivets or bolts 17. Hence the lower ends of these vertical-frames are vunited Y movement7 and since they are located on each with the units above spoken of so as' tobe invclu'dedftogetherV with the/'platform plates 2 and the angle beams 4, 3.; so that the uprightv 7A and therectan'gular frames of which they 'are apart, the plates 2 and thel angle beam are so joined `together as'to have a unitary car lplatformv it will followthat as Vthe vestibules'oftwo cars are brought into closeassociation the plates 2 will have their trans- `Vverse'edges-'brought into contact, and'during Y Vthe fluctuations and vibrations of the Vvarious i GQ parts the platesr 2 will move more or lessY towards' or away-from-each other.l or sidewise carrying the various connected elements with them. v

` 7 vIt be remarked that these frames havl-ing the members and 8 Vare obviously only the outer frames of the vestibules. They are connected usuallybyfaccordion or bellowslikefeXpansion partsV withV similar upright frames 32, which are the main stationary uprights- "of'the vestibule construction, but the `details of these expansion members ,are not shown, except in dotted lines, as they-are not necessary to*the"presentexplanation.L

The, chiefy problem which my invention v '.seeksftosolveftherefore isV the 14provision of f 'jv "ans vfor keeping the plates V2, 2, closely up against the underside of the platform plates V1 during all the oscillations to which said plates 2 are subject .asthe car platforms vif brate andjar and strainv underthe load carrled or the rapid or uneven lspeed-and irregufects. `Therefore to solve thefproblemisatisfactorily I arrange under these plates 2 Vre-v siliently-acti'ngA means constructed and ap-v plied in the following manner:

In a bearing below the car platform, whichv Y bearing may be formed as partvof the main frame, or the transverse beam 25 isV .a longi-4 tudinal rod or bar 5- adapted toy travel endwise, its forward end being Vconnected to one of the angle beams which :carry the Vplates 2 and associated parts so as to particularly control the position of said plate 2. i The krear vend of bar 5Vis :yieldingly connected to the Y y main car frame, as 27 ,by nieanseof asprin 6 which surrounds the inner end thereof an is tensionedbetween the angle piece 28riveted'to yframe 27 and the aforesaid bearing for lthis bar 5; the'end of thebar 5 that passes Vthrough .part 28 being screw threaded. yat 30 and provided with a nut/29.. so asv to tighten or loosen the strain and regulatefits power. There is a similar arrangement of a bar '5 on each car bufferusothat when the vestibule frames' meet each other in carl coupling .and the like,the plates 2 may be adjustable. or movable back-,and forth as much as may be necessary under the yielding controll of the spring connections` as described.` There will usually, be two bars 5in each carbuffer, one oneach side,rso .as vto balance the str-ainand 7e i larities of the rails as well asroadbed de- I action on the plate 2, that is toV say eac-hi plate Y I 2 will-be vunder the control ofV two o f the spring-provided bars. i y l l Further, 'the end. ofeach bar v5 nearest'the angle beam 4, 3,' is formed with'an eye at 11 rthat receives a vertical pin whoseuplper end 12'ent'ersa round hole? in the angle beam flange 3 and bears against plate 2, there being a springr 13 between the eye 11 and theV iange 3; while the lower end 14 ofthe pin enters an `opening` in a short' angle plate 9' that is riveted to the angle beamv member 4 near its lower edge, as shown in Figure 5,:a

therefore a connecti'onfis made between the unit that includes the plate 2 and the control bar 5; and valso the plate 2 and- .associated vpartsare carriedresiliently on the bar 5 "so as to enable said plate to be kept in close 'con-l tact with the platform plate l, and also to enable the other parts whichare associated in a unitary combination with the plate 2 to be kept in Vtheir proper relative -position during the expansion and contractiony ofthe bel- Y ment just described will quickly restore its contact, noiselessly and without-shock or undue vibration. Y

Since there are duplicate spring mechanisms between each plate 2, or any number ofA such mechanisms corresponding to the number of the control bars 5 it will be evident that the even action of the bader mechanism on bothv of the abutting platforms is regulated and insured, and the bridge consisting of the two plates 2 between the two car platforms is preserved at a proper level and is capable.

' trally` a'sm'all wearing platel against which at all times to allow easy passage bythe passengers from one carto the other under all j conditions of speed and vibratory movements the platforms being therefore as safe and as protective for the passengers as the interior of the car itself. Y

ln order that the contact between the front frames of the vestibule structures at the meeting ends of two carsmay be properlymaintained and easily made when the ycars are inteicoupled and thatthis may be without shock or ,clash asrthe cars rock .andthe couplings oscillate and adjust themselves, l find,

it convenient to provide the meeting faces Y of the upright sides 7 ofthese frames, as well strip 7 of the frame on the other car, asl

" shown clearly in Figure 2. The ball A is kept in place by a series of small balls 23 surrounding it and carried in a raceway 22 that is enclosed in a box 2l, whose flangesv 24 are i screwed or riveted tothe plate 7 on the rear side .of the same, or the side .opposite to that on which the ball A projects to meet the adjoining strip 7. Each of these vertical frames having members 7 and 8, which meet on the f two cars, have two of the balls A, one in each member 7, and with two such ball bearings in each connection 8, but the two balls in one frame are staggered in their relation to each' other,

This staggered position of the balls in the two frames causes the balls in one frame to ries two or more such ball bearings whichV project through the vframe and roll upon the "frame provided Vwith a number Vof ball .loearingsl andV the other frame --with #noi such ball bearings, for f,it"prevents the possibility7 of the meeting oftwovestibules havingnofloall bearings, ortwo vestibulesboth having ball beaiiitgs in thesam'epo'sition which wouldiV causeafclashingof'aetion.-j inthe case oftheV connections f8, as seen in Figures 2 and 5, the

Y balls A' lie not only inopenings-in the plate 8'but also incoincidingopeningsin the memlber 4t of the angle beamsyand this 'latter'mem- Vber a carriesitsball bearing in a looirlrivet-l y i ed to' thel rear sidel of thel member l as indi-Y cated lin Figure 5. Obviously l am not con- Y lined to this special arrangement but rca-n modify and changel the same at will provided ease and smoothness Also the member has rivetedtheretocen-Y bears a ,ball B of a'ball bearing supported lin theend of-a buer cente'rstemV 18 intermediate` between the-two barsv 5 that belong to each plate 2,' said stems 18 being carried by spring-actuated frames, whose .springs 2O-`r "o5 are supported in framesfl9 under 'the platforms yof the cars, and Y these ball bearing stems 18 assist'the bars 5 in holding the com- 'Y bined mechanism at the front end-of the platform in proper yielding relationship as al'- Vready sety forth.. VIt willfurther bevnoted that the movement of the bars 5 is assisted l by ball bearings 26 arranged on the castings v that carry the bars 5 as already explained.

rllhe ball bearing 26 which are arranged in the end sills 25 beneath the platforms 34 and in connection with the spring-provided bars or rods A5 are shown rin additional details in Figure 7 so as to bring out more clearly and fully the way-in which'these balls belong- Ving to the ballbearing apply their rolling e'ect to the longitudinally or endwise movi ablebars or rods 5 inV order that the latter may have a noiseless and easy reciprooationV Said casing 26 contains onef rlhe numeral 26 applies specifwhich are preferably separated slightly by cages, wires, or similar divisional means for e slightly separating the series of balls andL keeping them in proper positionl to roll easily` and to be alined properly with respect to each other, and in order that the rollingefl fect of the balls 40 on the shaft 5 as the latter reciprocates may be simple, easy and effective. Preferably I employtwo circular se-v ries `of balls 40 properly spaced apart by means ofthe intervening' cages or wire holders 41, and these ballSglO have plenty of play within the racewayvor oasingrQG, WhileA the rod 5 movesback and orth,thusrendering, the movement of themed and the platformV I n mechanism noiseless and easy.-`

What I claim isz; Y'

and to the vestibule' framev inra unitary combination, a horizontal buffer stem supported l beneath the platform,y a pin loosein the end side of the platform'.

Vof Vsaid stemV and beneath Athe anglelatein an opening of which'the upper en of the pinfsl held, an angle piece secured on the .lower edge ofthe; angle plate4 to whichy the lower-endof thefpn is secured inbrder tobe A rigidly carried thereby, springs surrounding the pinabove and below the stem and ten- Y soned between the stem and the upper flange' of the angle beam and the angle piece on the Y lower edge of the angle plate, said springs ibeing arranged soas to resilienrtly and adjust# ably hold the plate incontaot With vthe under- In testimony whereof signature. v ,y .i v Y v YJOSEPH 1L. ORTNERfK 

